Sunday, 2 October 2011

Media Research (Part 1)

Title: Jak and Daxter

Type: Game

Plot Overview: Jak and Daxter are two best friends to must use their platforming skills to collect power cells and eco in a mad quest to save the world from darkness.

Analysis: I studied Jak and Daxter mostly due to its fantastic overall feel. Graphically it was bright and cheery but, due to dark eco corruption, each area still had a definite feeling of menace. This is the sort of graphical style I am looking at – bright and chunky, as befits a fairy tale world of magic and adventure, but also with a dark edge to it – the cautionary moral with a sting in its tail.

Jak and Daxter also used humour brilliantly, with the Daxter sidekick providing a number of excellent puns and quips. This is something I want to include.

Title: Commando

Type: Film

Plot Overview: John Matrix must single handedly kill his way through an army of terrorists to save his daughter.

Analysis: I did not select this film alone, although it is probably the perfect example of such. Many films from the 80s/ early 90s followed a similar format – the lone badass takes on the world and triumphs, usually with a hilarious one liner at the end of each victory. I wanted to capture this feeling with my game idea – ideally the player should believe they are John Matrix, making up their own one liners when the game does not provide.

Title: Duke Nukem Forever

Type: Game

Plot Overview: Duke Nukem is back to kill some aliens and save some babes. Again.

Analysis: I looked at this game, not to get inspiration, but to learn what NOT to do. I want to create an anti hero, full of bad taste and one liners. What I do NOT want to do is create a wholly unlikable character, fill him full of steroids and sexist jokes, and then turn him loose in a world that no longer has room for one dimensional meatheads like Duke.